Will we continue to worship great wealth & allow the morbidly rich to manipulate our nation's political processes to their own ends? Or will we wake up to the danger of this way of thinking?

One of the stories out of the Davos Morbidly Rich Support Group meeting in Switzerland yesterday was Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema high-fiving each other, celebrating their success at killing voting rights legislation while preserving massive tax loopholes for banking and fossil fuel industry billionaires.

But there was more "high" to that high-five than the media showed. They were literally high, both from the fortunes each has acquired and the billions they were surrounded by onstage.

Science shows that acquiring wealth stimulates the pleasure/reward circuits in the brain's ventromedial prefrontal cortex, just behind the eyes in the front-most part of the brain. Studies that map blood flow and electrical activity in the brain demonstrate that even anticipating money lights up this region, much like what happens when we're presented with food or sex.

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

Thursday's Daily Stack

Article: "Is Davos the New Church of Calvinism?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Latin Inscriptions on British Coins" by CoinParade.

Article: "The Puyallup Tribe's Potlatch Tradition Is the Original Thanksgiving" by Sierra Hartman.

Book: The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "A Rendezvous With Destiny: Speech before the 1936 Democratic National Convention" by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Bible: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" - 1 Timothy 6:10.

Article: "Over 200 millionaires urge Davos elite to up taxes on the ultra-rich" by Ruxandra Iordache.

Article: "What is Calvinism and is it biblical?" by Got Questions Ministries.

Article: "Why spending money is like a drug" by Steve Connor.

Speech: "A Rendezvous With Destiny", Franklin D. Roosevelt, 27 June 1936 speech to the Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power."

Article: "The Lucy Show" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Jackie Gleason" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Dick Van Dyke Show" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Dynasty (1981 TV series)" by Wikipedia.

Video: Gordon Gekko "Greed is Good" Full Speech.

Article: "Alec Baldwin to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in 'Rust' film shooting" by Meredith Deliso.

Article: "Texas Republican Wants Food Made Of Aborted Fetuses Labeled" by Roque Planas.

Article: "Were Food Companies Caught Using Aborted Babies in Flavor Additives?" by David Mikkelson.

Article: "Kyrsten Sinema is still very, very wrong about the filibuster" by Hayes Brown.

Article: "Gallego jabs Lake over talk of Republican's possible Senate run" by Jared Gans.

Article: "Eyes on 2024: Potential Senate candidates weigh their options" by Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar.

Article: "Blake Masters" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ohio's 4th congressional district" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Wyoming lawmakers propose ban on electric vehicle sales" by Lauren Sforza.

Article: "Republicans weigh bill that would imprison librarians who refuse to pull books about LGBTQ people" by Marissa Higgins.

Article: "South Dakota Republicans introduce legislation prohibiting gender-affirming care for trans children" by Morgan Matzen.

Article: "Intersex" by Wikipedia.

Article: "States target transgender health care in first bills of 2023" by Hannah Schoenbaum.

Tweet: "North Dakota introduced HB 1205 that would ban all books from public libraries that include any depiction of trans or gay people in them..." by Alejandra Caraballo.

Bill: "North Dakota House Bill 1205" by Objectionable materials or performances; and to provide for application.

Article: "Disabled vet accuses George Santos of swiping $3K from his dying service dog's GoFundMe" by Matthew Chapman.

Article: "Embattled Rep. George Santos was drag queen in Brazil pageants: associates" by Reuters.

Article: "Prosperity theology" (prosperity gospel, health and wealth gospel) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Video of Rudy Giuliani Dressed in Drag and Being Seduced by Donald Trump Resurfaces" by Inside Edition.

Article: "Rust shooting incident" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Failed GOP candidate who ranted about 'rigged' election arrested for shootings at Dem officials' homes" by Brad Reed.

Article: "South Carolina's James Clyburn says he is convinced Biden will seek second term" by Robert Costa, Sarah Ewall-Wice, Grace Kazarian.

Law: "Tillman Act of 1907".

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Case: "First National Bank Of Boston V. Bellotti", 1978.

Hour Two: Veteran War Correspondent in Kiev, Ukraine, Phil Ittner, on the ground in Kyiv, Ukraine
- Phil Ittner, Veteran War Correspondent in Kiev, Ukraine Youtube

Article: "War in Donbass" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Donbass" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Why the fight for Soledar has become the "most bloody battle" of Russia's war in Ukraine" by CBS/AFP.

Article: "Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270)" by Lockheed Martin.

Article: "Biden will send Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine. And tanks could be next." by Lara Seligman and Paul McLeary.

Article: "The U.S. Is Sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine" by Kyle Mizokami.

Article: "Largest US tank battle lasted mere minutes" by Steven Beardsley.

Article: "UK confirms plans to transfer Challenger tanks to Ukraine" by The New Voice of Ukraine.

Article: "Challenger 2" (tank) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Berlin will allow exports of German tanks to Ukraine if U.S. sends its tanks -source" by Reuters.

Article: "Putin ally warns NATO of nuclear war if Russia is defeated in Ukraine" by Guy Faulconbridge and Felix Light.

Article: "Zelenskyy vows to retake Crimea from Russia" by Mick Mulroy.

Article: "U.S. Warms to Helping Ukraine Target Crimea" by Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt and Julian E. Barnes.

Article: "Crimea" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Sevastopol" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Mohammed bin Salman 'has been paying Donald Trump unknown millions for the past two years'" by Mark Sumner.

Article: "Did Jared sell out America and prospects for world peace for $2 billion? and...nobody cares?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Does Predestination Make God Arbitrary?" by Stanford E. Murrell.

Article: "John Knox to Elizabeth" by National Archives.

Letter: "July 1559. John Knox's Declaration to Queen Elizabeth".

Article: "The Hopi prophecies are coming true — here's why we should pay attention" by Cyril Christo.

Article: "Medicare Advantage" (Medicare Part C) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Putin tells NATO, ‘leave the Crimea alone'" by Seb.

Article: "The Biden administration could sidestep McConnell's refusal to pay America's bills by minting a $1 trillion platinum coin" by Andy Kiersz and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 1 section 6 (Powers of Congress). "The Senators and Representatives ... shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place."

Article: "House Republicans prepare emergency plan for breaching debt limit" by Jeff Stein, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer.

Article: "25% of total US national debt incurred over 230 years happened during... the Trump Administration" by annieli.

Book: The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Taxes and a Two-Santa Theory" by Jude Wanniski.

Article: "Zelenskyy said he's not sure Putin is still alive, as he seems absent from decision-making" by Sinéad Baker.

Article: "New study finds libertarians tend to support reproductive autonomy for men but not for women " by PsyPost.

Article: "A surprisingly simple task appears to boost attachment to your spouse and marital satisfaction " by PsyPost.

Article: "Fifty-state strategy" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Howard Dean Scream" by Brad.

Article: "The US Supreme Court fails to determine who leaked the abortion ruling" by CVV News.

Article: "Experts say Trump's brag that he took classified folders as "cool keepsake" is "admissible evidence"" by Samaa Khullar.

Law: "H.R.2469 - Medicare Reform Act of 2003".

Bill: "H.R.9187 - Save Medicare Act" by Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2].

Article: "Mike Pompeo Takes Helm as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency" by CIA.

Article: "Brain trauma suffered by U.S. diplomats abroad could be work of hostile foreign government" by Scott Pelley.

Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

It's Anything Goes Friday!

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Is Putin's Nuclear Threat a Bluff? Featuring Phil Ittner

The Real Reason the Rich Flock to Davos…

The Dark Reason The Rich Hate Democracy Revealed